On Marvin Gaye

Prior to What's Going On, Marvin Gaye had limited success, starting off with rather lack luster stable of songs. He had a few minor successes with songs such as Ain’t no mountain high enough. His music consisted generally of duets with female singers, until Tammi Terrell's death. He went about working on What’s Going On fueled by the Vietnam war, drug abuse, and world events. Marvin ran into many issues with the label, Motown, over disagreements on album content. Motown CEO Berry Gordy did not agree with Marvin on the songs he wished to include on the album, fearing the impact of Marvin’s reputation on Motown. Due to some success he received by going against Gordy’s wishes, he decided to record What’s Going On and release it. The album departed from Motown’s known sound, and experimented with jazz and funk, and quickly shot up the charts. The album was recorded using the top session musicians known as the Funk Brothers, and was often confused with protest songs because of the nature of the lyrical content. The release of the album led to a flourishing of Soul music, and set the template for similar music to follow. As a listener, I did not enjoy the music very much, but that is solely because I am not much of a soul listener. There were a few tracks that I did enjoy, but as a whole I just did not enjoy the feel and pace of the music. As a professional, however, I acknowledge the quality and production value of the album and Marvin’s skill in producing a solid record. I respect the effort and soul Marvin put into producing the album, and can hear his distinct ‘touch’ on the sonic quality it has. As a professional I enjoy the quality of What’s Going On.